Fendy sunglass earmuffs. They're so hot right now!

So far I’ve shied away from discussing fashion. I hesitate to grant it its own unique identity or pass it off under the umbrella term, “art.” However, if art is the physical expression of one’s soul and creativity, art it must be.

Fashion has the potential to balance at that perfect intersection between superfluousness (the details that make life a little more thrilling and beautiful) and practicality, making it one of the premier art forms in my opinion.

It’s an expression and commentary that follows you around every day, and that you have the power to change at the drop of a hat-quite literally. I was inspired when I leafed through some old magazines I’ve hoarded during the last year (yes, I’m one of those…if I see a photo that strikes my fancy or a perfume strip that smells particularly lovely, I’ll keep an entire magazine for the express purpose of enjoying these things in future in the form of a collage.) One quotation caught my eye in particular, drawing my attention to the concept of art as a business. (Click here to read more…)

Friends,

I hope this weekend was a good one for you.

If you read my column this week (as people occasionally do), your mind has hopefully been stretched and reformed into a more refined shape. You’re thinking deep thoughts on the nature of art as a product, not as a process (which is absolutely a point of view, not an absolute).

But, you’re starved. You need some steak to cut your philosophical teeth on. And I will deliver.

AARON

Robopoem

Computer-generated Poetry

General intro to Computer fiction

Good overview of Algorithmic Art

Sometimes an unexpected collaboration can add up to a refreshing sum greater than its parts. Beyonce and Jay-Z’s “Crazy in Love,” M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel’s She and Him, and John Legend and Andre 3000’s “Green Light” all come to mind.

Then there are the terrible ones. This list is dedicated to the top ten worst musical miscarriages of the last 10 years. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, some will make you scratch your head in confusion and some might compel you to punch in your computer screen. Without further ado, let the disastrous duos begin!

10. Weezer feat. Lil Wayne “Can’t Stop Partying”

This song hovers at the bottom rungs of the list because it sounds suspiciously like Weezer and Weezy know exactly just how terrible this is and that they’re secretly laughing along with us. But whether or not it’s so bad it’s good is off the table – it’s really just straight bad. The only idea more ludicrous than Lil Wayne agreeing to guest on this track is the image of the nebbish Rivers Cuomo (the man who wallowed in self-loathing on Weezer’s sophomore album “Pinkerton”) as a big league playa rolling with “the real big posse” to “V.I.P.” with some “Bottles of the Goose” while hot girls are “in the corner getting loose.” Ew, Rivers, ew. (Click here to read more…)

People claim that tough biker dudes gotta have ‘em, a pirate isn’t a pirate without ‘em and you wouldn’t be able to identify a convict without one. Or so some people assume. No, I’m not talking about swarthy sideburns or a shank. I’m talking about tattoos.

Due to aforementioned stereotypes, tattoos were forbidden under my parents’ roof when I was growing up, but one incident shocked me into eternal curiosity. While at Disneyland a burly man wearing shorts and a sweat-stained T-shirt caught my attention. You wouldn’t expect to find him in that amusement park. However, his choice of tattoos completely disbanded this notion. Donald Duck beamed from his bicep. Goofy grinned from his deltoid. Minnie Mouse peeked over the top of his raggedy T-shirt at the base of his neck. The Epcot building highlighted his massive calf and Peter Pan sailed across his bulging quads to meet Dumbo. It was horrific. It was fascinatingly colorful. It was convenient that I didn’t have to wait in line for three hours to see my favorite characters. 

(Click here to read more…)

Hey gang,

This week’s EE is going to be short and sweet. In the column I talk about graphics, and how it’s a field of visual art fueled by consumers.

I mention the progression of the field, and how it’s come leaps and bounds in not too much space. I remember reading a great article summarizing game design over the last tw0 decades. I went ahead and found it.

Enjoy.

What’s better than reality TV?

A lot of things, but tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m., one very important one will be gliding over heart strings and plucking at souls in Berkeley’s very own Hertz Hall. That’s right, the University Symphony Orchestra will be performing and, from the looks of this weekend’s program, they’ll also be completely ignoring Halloween.

No “Night on Bald Mountain,” for these presumably un-costumed folks, led by conductor David Milnes, who probably won’t be wearing a costume either. But maybe they’ve got a few tricks up their sleeves for Saturday. We don’t know. Maybe Milnes will dress up as a “conductor” and wear like a train driver costume or something. Get it? Like another kind of conductor. Because he’s the conductor. That’d be clever. Right?

Anyway, I digress. The orchestra will play Rachmaninoff’s “Symphony No. 2,” Ernest Bloch’s “Suite Hebraique,” and Bloch’s “Concerto Grosso for strings and piano.” It’s only $5 for students, and even if classical music isn’t really your bag, man, it’s still sometimes fun to go relax and hear something you might not ever hear otherwise.

Rachmaninov -- André Previn -- Symphony No.2 Mvt.4 (3/3) [YouTube]
University Symphony Orchestra [Dept. of Music Calendar]

I agonized over a pun headline for this post–”Let’s Twit It On,” “You Only Twit Once,” “Tweet Home Alabama,” “Twit Up, Twit On Up” . . . you get the picture. The point is, the Daily Californian Arts Department has its very own twitter!!!!

Follow us, and you’ll find: (Click here to read more…)

On Monday night at Bottom of the Hill, indie-dream pop duo—along with a plus one on drums—Beach House played a sold out show. The opening group, Papercuts, is a band my friend deemed “the kind you’d want to do your homework to.” I can’t say I disagree but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Beach House followed—and delighted. (Click here to read more…)

Hey gang,

Assuming you all read last week’s column, the cat’s out of the bag. My geekiness runs deep. I’ve only scratched the surface.

Before we get there, I want to share a few more things about the role-playing system, “Spirit of the Century” that I referenced.

Here is the official site. And here is a blog, written by one of our players, in character, where he retells the events of our games. It’s really amazing, actually. I’ve commented in character as well.

If you’re curious about how deep exactly my geek runs, perhaps this will illuminate the matter.

-Daniel out

I just joined the Daily Cal this semester, so not expecting to get a sweet complimentary press ticket, I bought my tickets to the Treasure Island Festival like a normal person in August. I didn’t get a fancy shmancy press pass with all the luxuries. No internet access, no free water, no private bathrooms, no smug sense of superiority. I was roughing it. But I got to capture a perspective from the front lines: I wiggled my way through the crowd to get closer to the stage, I was part of the conga line at the end of Dan Deacon’s set, I wandered through the art booths and midway games, and I danced my face off pretty much all day. So here’s a wrap up of the true festival-goer experience:

For one, getting to the festival is a little bit of a task if you don’t have a car and a VIP parking pass. I left my house around 1040am to take Bart to the city and walk to AT&T Park, and by the time we got off the complimentary shuttle to the island, it was 1:15.

Still, it’s hard to even let bumps like this affect your mood at a place like the Treasure Island Festival. How often do you get to spend a day listening to fantastic live music surrounded by a conglomeration of artists, students, hippies, ravers, weirdos, and normal people who all share a love of music? It’s a pretty fascinating sociological phenomenon, and always a spectacle. Today’s weirdness included old-timey midway games, a few guys riding around in motorized cupcakes (literally, cupcake cars where you could only see the driver’s head poking out of the top), and about a dozen people dressed up in rubber robot and monster costumes who would run around and dance with people. The last one was probably pretty terrifying for the few handfuls of people tripping on acid.

These weird elements are typical of any major music festival these days, but Treasure Island is particularly unique for a few reasons. For one, Treasure Island sells out at 12,000 tickets, which is dwarfed by the 40-60,000 people the larger festivals like Coachella and Outside Lands attracts. It’s so small that you can hear the music playing from almost anywhere on the island. The art booths seem to spill towards the music into distances you would normally stand from the stage at Coachella. But it’s still large enough to provide a similar experience to these festivals, but small enough to feel significantly more intimate. Also, there are only two stages, and the schedule is designed so that when one band finishes on one stage, the next band starts on the other. This eliminates one of the worst things about music festivals: having to choose between two of your favorite acts playing simultaneously on different stages.

And thank God for that. With a lineup like Saturday’s, you don’t want to miss a thing.

(Click here to read more…)